There are noticeable differences from the start. Namely, there’s a lot more green happening here. Trees and shady areas with plastic seating instantly set the relaxed atmosphere. Secondly, if you want to find a stage, don’t bother looking them up, because there are three: This Stage, That Stage and Other Stage. Many confusing conversations between my compadrés ensued thanks to that.

I was late in arriving, hence my racing to see Plug-In City, and passing a jaunty-sounding set by Little Red on the way. Sadly, they had a grand total of 20 people watching them, as was the situation with the former who are a fantastic Melbournian synth band, performing their EP and some new tracks solidly.

Next I trekked to Hot Hot Heat, whose lead singer surprised many with fiery energy, an impromptu encore and a pair of jeans which must've been designed to cut off blood circulation. However, that was the theme of the day; hipsters and trendies were everywhere, and if you didn’t have a trilby on your head or oversized sunnies perched upon your nose, then kiss your ‘cred’ goodbye.

After a quick bite (memo to Richard Branson – I don’t like paying $5 for bottled water) it was off to Modest Mouse. The band played a superb set, mostly taken from their last two albums, climaxing with Float On, as the audience overwhelmed the band. It would have been more enjoyable had the bogan quotient of the audience not decided to start a circle pit mid-way. Legendary Johnny Marr did most of the talking whilst lead singer Isaac Brock looked wildly demon-eyed, spitting out lyrics vehemently. Some of those lyrics didn’t make it to our ears without screeching mic static, putting a damper on the dancing.

My highlight of the day came next in the form of The Jesus and Mary Chain. Their set drew heavily from Psychocandy and not nearly enough from Darklands. The band held out until the second last song for crowd favourite Just Like Honey, ending in true grim JAMC fashion with Reverence. The sound quality had been a problem all day and Jim Reid seemed truly displeased with it. It didn’t help when he realised his mic was superglued to the stage. Nonetheless he epitomised cool with shades on and pitch-perfect vocals.

Next up was Air, during which it began to rain. A sea of poncho-wearing folk remained though, and they were rewarded with an oh-so-French, oh-so-tight performance from the duo, culminating in Sexy Boy and La Femme D’Argent.

Simultaneously, CSS bored me to tears, with so much gimmickery that my eyes stung. Their stage props were more interesting than their performance. The crowd was drunk enough to enjoy the pretty colours and pointless tunes though.

At this point the crowd divided, with some off to see Queens of the Stone Age, who for what I could hear were tearing it up. However, I witnessed the cheesiest, and thus most fantastic, performance of the evening in the form of Duran Duran, who pumped out their hits like there was no tomorrow. The new songs were a black mark on an otherwise fun set, with plenty of middle-aged women AND men dancing to Girls on Film, Rio and Wild Boys.

The final band of the evening was The Smashing Pumpkins. I arrived in time to hear Bullet With Butterfly Wings, and then the 20 minute wank-off which is United States. Having seen them at their sideshow I know they are a thrilling live band, but I can only hope the first half of their set maintained some interest. The festival ended with Cherub Rock.

All in all, it was a well-organised and laid-back day. It could have been Woodstock if every available space wasn’t plastered with ads. Great weather and fantastic music, that’s all you need.

Images by Sevana Ohandjanian